Louie John Annesley (born 3 May 2000) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Dorking Wanderers Dorking Wanderers Football Club is a professional football club based in Dorking, Surrey, England. Affiliated to the Surrey County Football Association, they are currently members of and play at Meadowbank. Formed in 1999 by a group of friends ...

. He plays for the Gibraltar national team. For the national team, he has also been utilised as a holding midfielder.

Club career

Early career

Born in St. Helier, London, Annesley spent time with both

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

and Chelsea. Annesley started his senior career at

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

side Cobham, breaking into the senior side and making ten appearances in his only season at the club in the

Combined Counties Football League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's Association football, football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the wester ...

. This attracted the attention of

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

, who signed him to their academy in 2017. He left in early 2018, signing for

Gibraltar Premier Division The Gibraltar Premier Division was a football league established by the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) in 1905, and the top tier of football in Gibraltar. It originally contained eight member clubs, but it has grown over the years. In 1 ...

champions Lincoln Red Imps in July 2018. He made his debut on 26 July 2018 in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

first leg against

The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, commonly known as The New Saints () or TNS FC, are an English professional football club that play in the , but are based completely within England, in Oswestry, Shropshire. They a ...

Blackburn Rovers and loans

In January 2019, despite only playing three league games for the Red Imps and primarily featuring in their Intermediate League squad, he signed for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

side

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on a deal until June 2021, initially to play in their development side. Annesley made his Rovers under-23 debut on 4 February, coming off the bench for the final 18 minutes of his side's 7–1 victory over

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in the

Premier League 2 The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

. He picked up his first piece of silverware at Rovers on 7 May 2019, when he started in the 2–0

Lancashire Senior Cup The Lancashire County Football Association Cup (commonly known as the Lancashire Senior Cup) is an association football knockout tournament involving teams from Lancashire, England. It is a County Cup competition of the Lancashire County Footbal ...

final victory over local rivals

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. He captained the U23s for the first time on 8 March 2021, also scoring his first goal in a 5–1 win over Southampton B in the

. In June 2021, he signed a new two-year contract with the club. On 29 October 2021, Annesley joined

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

side,

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

on loan until 4 December 2021 and made his debut a day later, in a 3–2 home victory over

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

, playing the full 90 minutes. On 6 December 2021, his loan was extended for a further month until the new year, following five first-team appearances. On 5 January 2022, Annesley's loan was extended once more, this time until the end of the current campaign. On 25 January 2022, during a 1–0 away defeat to

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

, Annesley was sent off for the first time in his playing career, receiving two yellows in the space of two minutes. In the 2022–23 season, Annesley was elevated to the first team squad for the first time, being given the number 39 shirt. He made his debut in the

Carabao Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the English Football L ...

second round tie against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

on 23 August 2022, playing the full game and making a crucial late block to ensure a 2–1 victory for Blackburn. On 22 November 2022, Annesley rejoined

side,

on loan until 20 December 2022.

Dundalk

On 10 January 2023, Annesley signed a multi-year contract for

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

side

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

. After registering an assist on his debut against UCD, he scored his first goal for the club on 3 March in the 15th minute of a 5–0 in over

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League ...

. However, shortly after the game he was taken ill, spending three weeks in hospital with before returning to light training in April. The illness was later revealed to be

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

, and caused him to temporarily lose the ability to walk. In a season heavily disrupted by injury, Annesley played 18 games in total, scoring twice. On 15 March 2024, Annesley was appointed Dundalk captain for the first time in place of injured captain and vice-captain

John Mountney John Mountney (born 22 February 1993) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for League of Ireland Premier Division club Bohemians. Club career Early career Having grown up in Bohola, County Mayo, Mountney began playing w ...

and Andy Boyle, in a 0–0 draw with

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

. However, after the departure of manager Stephen O'Donnell saw him frozen out of the team, and he eventually left the club in June 2024.

Braintree Town

On 28 June 2024, Annesley joined newly promoted

side

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team of the ...

on a free transfer. He quickly established himself as a regular in the starting XI, scoring twice in 49 games across all competitions as the Iron finished 17th on their return to the 5th tier. However, he left at the end of the season, dropping down a division to join

International career

Annesley is the first player to have represented Gibraltar at every level from U16 to senior level, first appearing for the under-16 side in March 2015 while on the books at Chelsea. Later that year, he made his debut for the Gibraltar U17 national team, with whom he earned five caps. In 2016, he played three games for the Gibraltar U19 before earning a call up for the first Gibraltar U21 in 2017, with whom he has eight caps to date. Annesley notably made a late goal-line clearance in Gibraltar U21s' 1–0 victory over

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. In March 2018, Annesley made his debut for the senior national team, starting at the last minute after an injury to

Joseph Chipolina Joseph Louis Chipolina (born 14 December 1987) is a Gibraltar international footballer who plays for Manchester 62 of the Gibraltar Football League as a left back or left winger. He is his nation's third most-capped player of all time, having ...

in the warm-up. He was substituted in the second half as they held on for a 1–0 win over

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. He earned his second senior cap on 13 October, coming off the bench in another 1–0 victory, this time away at

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

to win Gibraltar's first competitive points at senior level. He captained the national team for the first time on 22 March 2025, against

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

Personal life

Annesley was born in St. Helier, London, and was educated at

Wimbledon College Wimbledon College is a government-maintained, voluntary-aided, Jesuit Catholic secondary school and sixth form for boys aged 11 to 19 in Wimbledon, London. The college was founded in 1892 "for improvement in living and learning for the greate ...

. Alongside his playing career, he is a coach and analyst with Monster Mentality Sports, a personal football coaching service.Team
Monster Mentality Sports. Retrieved 1 December 2024.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Honours

Blackburn Rovers *

: 2018–19, 2019–20

References

External links

*
World Football
{{DEFAULTSORT:Annesley, Louie 2000 births Living people Gibraltarian men's footballers Gibraltar men's international footballers English men's footballers English people of Gibraltarian descent Men's association football defenders AFC Wimbledon players Barnet F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Cobham F.C. players Woking F.C. players Lincoln Red Imps F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players National League (English football) players Gibraltar men's under-21 international footballers Gibraltar men's youth international footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Sutton 21st-century English sportsmen